Stay a Little Longer

Stay a while longer.

Recalling the information revealed by the Overgod of Fate, there were four vacant Sovereign Sparks. He had already refined the mid-level dark Sovereign Spark, leaving the life, fate, and thunder-element lesser Sovereign Sparks. The life spark would most likely be obtained by the Nether Fruit Tree or Hela, but he had no idea where the thunder-element one was.

Hela naturally sensed Lincoln's scan, so she ordered, "Iwina, go out and welcome our guest!"

Iwina responded and went out. Over the years, she had long grown accustomed to other Sovereigns visiting her master. Before long, she saw a Sovereign in black athletic wear arrive, flying straight to the mountaintop while ignoring the Heaven and Earth Chains.

But when she saw his appearance, she couldn't help but be startled. Wasn't this Lincoln, who had just left? He was a Sovereign; why did he have to visit her master like an ordinary Deity-level just now?

Surprise was surprise, but she adjusted her mindset in time and led Lincoln inside.

The Death Chief Sovereign lay on her side on a high couch, twirling a strand of red hair with her finger. Looking at Lincoln, who had returned so soon, she said with a mocking smile, "Little guy, that's truly rare. Seeing your Sovereign clone in the Divine Plane. Neither Vivian nor I could invite you out, yet Orf managed to do it."

Lincoln hurriedly explained, "The two of you are well aware that I was worried Augusta might make a move against me. Lord Orf directly stated he was convening a Sovereign meeting; I didn't expect that either."

"Then do you know why Orf is so concerned about you?" Hela's gaze drifted. "You should know, even Vivian and I didn't convene a Sovereign meeting to vindicate you."

Vivian had also returned to Nether Mountain, but she hadn't expected Lincoln to return so soon. Looking at her elder sister's unreserved demeanor, she felt a sense of contemplation.

"Lord Vivian, Lord Hela, I also find it strange. Today, I visited you, Lord Hela, as well as Lord Orf and Lord Uterede. My expectation was that only you, Lord Hela, would see me. Lord Orf and Lord Uterede might not pay me any mind, and indeed, Lord Uterede did not see me."

Lincoln gave a wry smile. "I also felt something was off at the time, so I hurriedly cut the conversation short. However, my two lords, are you not bothered by Orf obtaining that arrow?"

Watching Vivian walk away, Hela suddenly asked Lincoln, "For countless years, those lucky ones who newly became Sovereigns have come to visit me, mostly to resurrect family and friends. Do you have no such needs?"

Lincoln was silent for a moment, many figures appearing in his mind, before he sighed and said, "My lord, we traveled together for hundreds of years. You know that I was the first life in my Material Plane, and those who grew up with me were the first batch of lives. But their talent and opportunities were insufficient. In the cruel Supreme Plane and Divine Planes, they all died one by one. Moreover, they had already become Deities when they died, so there was no way to save them."

However, it sounded like the joint effort of the Life Sovereign and the Death Chief Sovereign was a technique similar to a combined divine ability, and it had already been completed. Otherwise, one plus one would not equal two.

Although he didn't expect to defeat Orf, he hoped not to fall too far behind.

Hela suddenly laughed, "Clever little guy, using a Heaven and Earth treasure to brush off Orf's favor and Augusta's harassment. If you didn't have that trick up your sleeve, you would have suffered a heavy loss. Don't be fooled by Orf's image; don't truly think he is such a good person."

Vivian looked at Hela and said nothing more.

The sense of crisis brought pressure. The most direct path currently was to refine other Sovereign Sparks. This path carried high risks but great rewards. He had to select targets he could strike and prepare for both possibilities. If the situation forced his hand, he would have to risk attacking those unlucky Sovereigns!

"But Orf is different. He has an interest in researching the innate divine abilities of all divine beasts. However, he has many areas of research, so he rarely seeks out a specific divine beast. He didn't contact you before, but now that he has, he naturally wants your essence blood."

"However, Lincoln, Orf has helped you, and my elder sister and I have also helped you quite a bit. How can you be so partial?" Vivian added.

Lincoln was silent. This was blind confidence born from an information gap, but he couldn't produce a solid reason to point out Orf's true strength, and pointing it out wouldn't help anyway. Until he found a way to deal with that set of defensive Supreme Artifacts, he did not want to stand against Orf, whether openly or in the shadows.

"Although he is strong, he should have his limits," Vivian paused, surprised that Hela had explained it so thoroughly, and added, "One-on-one, he shouldn't be able to take down either of us. If my elder sister and I join forces, we could instead defeat him."

Hela looked at Lincoln with sharp eyes. "If you want to know how strong we are, you can challenge us and try!"

"Uterede naturally wouldn't have any interest in you," said Vivian, her voice very soft. "Although your innate divine ability is powerful, it cannot achieve cross-rank combat like the Four Divine Beasts. I heard his technique development has had new breakthroughs recently; he has no time to bother with others. If Orf hadn't convened the meeting, he might not have even gone."

Lincoln gave another wry smile. "My lord, you know I only became a Sovereign not long ago. I even had to borrow my Main God Artifact from you. I am truly penniless now and cannot bring out anything good."

Lincoln suddenly realized. This was a case of being too close to the situation to see it clearly. Aside from Aier, no one had ever coveted his body before, so he had never thought of this. Suddenly, Lincoln associated this with the fate of the Four Divine Beasts and felt a chill run down his spine. Orf was "despicable"!

However, following Vivian's lead, he probed, "My lord, I previously heard that the Four Rule Sovereigns are equal in strength, but judging by what you just said, does Lord Uterede value Lord Orf more?" The implication was clear, but he didn't pierce the veil. At this point in time, their respective strengths were crucial to Lincoln, as they were important backers.

"Heaven and Earth treasures are ultimately just treasures. Even if Orf nurtures that arrow into a new Main God Artifact and his attack power increases tenfold, it is not worth mentioning compared to an offensive Supreme Artifact," Hela explained. "However, you should not let him increase his strength further. Although he lacks an offensive Supreme Artifact, he has one more portion of Willpower than us and possesses a body at the level of a Main God Artifact. Aside from his attack being ten times weaker than ours, he leads in all other aspects. Moreover, Orf is a research fanatic. After countless years, it is very likely he has already addressed the issue of insufficient attack power, and his strength may well have reached the forefront of the four of us."

Only those at the Saint-level or below would reincarnate into the Underworld as undead after death, and that was assuming their souls were not collected by a powerhouse as material.

Lincoln hurriedly waved his hands and shook his head. He didn't have a death wish, and he certainly didn't want to travel thousands of miles just to hand over a Sovereign Spark.

Lincoln actually had some guesses in his heart, but he couldn't be sure if he was right.

"Fine, fine, I won't make things difficult for you," Vivian smiled and stood up. "But don't forget us when you have gains in the future. Elder sister, I won't sit here either; I'll head back first."

Remembering the past, Lincoln felt a bit downcast, so he also bid farewell to Hela. He didn't mention the Nether Fruit; if the current Nether Fruit could allow one to quickly become an Asura, it would have long been famous throughout the Divine Plane.

Hela hesitated for a moment and did not agree to Lincoln's departure. She looked into the distance. "Stay a while longer, little guy."

Lincoln didn't mind; he sat for another moment before rising to leave.